The present invention relates to a method for wirelessly charging and unlocking an electric lock and, more particularly, to a method for wirelessly charging and unlocking an electric lock to provide a better anti-burglar effect within a shorter period of time.
Locks are mounted in various places, such as doors, vehicles, etc., to provide an anti-burglar effect. With the development of technologies, electric locks including a mechanical mechanism, an electronic mechanism, and an electric mechanism have been developed. An electric lock requires electricity to operate the electronic mechanism and the electric mechanism to thereby lock or unlock the mechanical mechanism.
However, when the residual electricity of the battery of an electric lock is insufficient to support normal operation, unlocking or locking could not be achieved. Thus, a disadvantage of an electric lock, particularly an electric door lock mounted on a door, has insufficient electricity after long-term use. Most of the doors of houses still use mechanical locks. When it is desired to replace a mechanical lock on a door with an electric lock, it is difficult for an average user or a locksmith to directly connect the electric lock to an indoor power source. Thus, the electric lock on a door is generally powered by the electricity of a battery which cannot be charged during use. As a result, the battery is out of electricity after long-term use.
Furthermore, an electric lock is generally unlocked by a door access card (using a radio frequency identification technology) or an electronic key. During the unlocking procedure, the electric lock reads a password or identification information stored in the door access card or the electronic key. The electric lock is unlocked if the password or identification information matches with authorized identification information stored in the electric lock. On the other hand, the electric lock remains in the locked state if the password or identification information does not match with the authorized identification information stored in the electric lock. However, in a case that the door access card or the electronic key is lost, a person picking up the door access card or the electronic key can use it to unlock the electric lock, leading to risks of theft.
In an electric lock system using a smart phone to unlock, the smart phone includes an unlocking program that is executed to transmit an unlocking signal to the electric lock for the unlocking operation. If the smart phone is lost, the person picking up the smart phone cannot unlock the electric lock. However, the owner of the smart phone has to execute the unlocking program himself or herself, including opening the screen of the smart phone and touching an icon (representing the unlocking program) on the screen to execute the unlocking program to thereby connect the smart phone with the electric lock. Then, the unlocking program sends the unlocking signal to unlock the electric lock. The time required for the whole unlocking procedure is longer than the conventional unlocking procedure using a door access card or a mechanical lock, failing to provide use convenience.
Thus, a need exists for a novel method for wirelessly charging and unlocking an electric lock to provide a better anti-burglar effect within a shorter period of time.